Rules Are Made To Be Broken....

Apparently.....

I have always had and "unwritten" rule in the barn -

"There will be NO cats, on, or near the milk stand while the goat or cow is on said stand..."

While not a written law, all people of the Feline persuasion have been well indoctrinated in this law, and the consequences of not obeying it. There have been pummeling, flights on "Air Kitty", stick pokes, swats, glove hits, etc, etc. Everything short of concrete shoes has been considered.

This morning, I was running a little behind with the feeding schedule because I heard one of the goat Does sounding "funny", so I went to investigate. The first sight of her was of a "messy" tail, so I looked around for babies.

My first search came up with a small, all white baby boy, huddled in a stall corner, still wet from birth. I looked around inside the barn, but didn't come up with another one, so I picked him up, and took him into the house for a dry-off and so Deb could "inspect" him.

What we found is that he is already spoiled - Deb started to rub his head, and almost put him to sleep.



Normally, they kick and scream for mom to save them from the two legged monsters. This little guy STARTED to do that - until his head was being rubbed. He settled right down and enjoyed it WAY too much.

Meanwhile, I was running even further behind, now, so the little guy's visit to the house was cut short, and I headed back to the barn to finish.

I fed the cats, fed the two calves, the rest of the goats, and did my morning routine with getting Daisy comfortable while being handled on the milk stand.

Then, it was Mable's turn. She was being obstinate this morning because I let "That COW!" (Daisy) in for breakfast first.

Mabel gets that way when she doesn't get first dibs at the food....

Anyhoo - I do the first round of milking Mabel, then let her think about things for a bit - and let down a little more milk - while I go feed the chickens. I usually come back in the same door I went out, but this morning, I made a big circle around the barn to see if another baby could be found, so I came back inside the BACK door of the barn.

As I came trough, I couldn't believe my eyes, and scrambled to get my camera ready. There, while a cow was on the milk stand, was a BLATANT disregard for the rules -



Evidently, as soon as I go out the door, SOMEBODY hops up on the cow and watches for me through the window. I have wondered a few times, just what was going on, when I opened the door, and find the cat scurrying out of the room. I guess I now know.

It's also nice to know that Mabel is an accomplice.

At any rate, I finished milking without incident, but I did notice the cat was nowhere in sight. She only returned when she heard Deb come into the barn.

We did find another baby, though, He was hiding in almost the same spot where I found the other one, but had crawled into a barrel I had modified for use as a "Kid Can". Even without the light on, he evidently found it appealing.

I hate it when that happens - search a place 3-4 times, then find out whatever you were looking for was right there, looking at you, all along.

Both are now back with mom.

I just hope that evil cat doesn't corrupt them to much....